Pricing products more economically and expanding distribution are challenges for skin-care device marketers, but there is significant opportunity for firms that can reach consumers at the mass retail level, says Kline & Company. The market for home-use aesthetic devices grew globally by 22% in 2012.

Device companies kicked off 2013 by raising $1.1 billion via 45 transactions; the only device M&A transaction in Q1 to exceed the billion-dollar mark was Cardinal Health Inc.’s $2.07 billion acquisition of AssuraMed. Diagnostics firms began 2013 by raising a total of $286 million in the opening quarter, a 46% improvement over Q4 2012’s tally.

AstraZeneca paid $240 million for rights to Moderna’s RNA therapeutics. Argon Medical acquired Angiotech’s interventional business for $362.5 million. PIPEs accounted for 31% of the $976 million in biopharma financing. FOPOs, on the other hand, dominated the $523 million in device fundraising.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Elsevier Business Intelligence’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Dealmaking column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment –In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type –Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing.